The Quest of Time

Chapter 4

The stranger walked ahead and Lizzie followed him couple of steps behind, he was walking slowly and repeatedly looked back at her. Every time she caught him looking at her, he hurriedly looked away from her and cleared his throat as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words.

When they reached his horse, he made a gesture with his hand and uncomfortably said "If you do not mind Madam riding with me on the horse, I can take you to my house in haste."

Lizzie agreed, "Okay, no problem. Are you sure two of us can ride together on the horse."

"Certainly Madam, I am an avid rider." He said with pride and patted the horse fondly "And Acer here is a strong horse." The horse whinnied with delight and Lizzie smiled for the first time in his presence. How bad a man can be if an animal trusted him. They have good instincts, don't they?

The man looked at her awkwardly and gave his hand to her "Let me help you to get up the horse." Lizzie looked at his hand uncomfortably, not taking it. He sensed her uneasiness and promised her "I assure you I will hold you safely in my arms so that you do not fall and injure yourself."

Lizzie was still unsure, she had ridden on horses before, she was no expert on the horse riding but she said with resolve "Don't worry about me. You sit in the front, I will sit at the back and hold you firmly."

"But it is not safe for you to sit at the back. You might lose your balance and I would not be able to assist you." He said.

"I'm a big girl, I'll be fine. What if I sit in the front and you decided to throw me off the horse or break my neck or something." She said jokingly but regretted as soon as the words came out of her mouth. She shouldn't be putting ideas in his head and most of all she shouldn't be offending the man who was helping her.

But offended the man was. He looked horrified and angry "How can you assume such preposterous behaviour from me Madam? I have already assured you I am an honourable man and you such indignantly insult a man's good intention."

Lizzie scared by his sudden anger took a step backward "Just kidding, you know." She tried to calm him down "Let's just get out of here. No need to make a big deal of a stupid joke."

The man said indignantly, "You should think of what you say out loud Madam. You are certainly a strange woman and this is not how a lady should behave." He raised himself into the horse and waited for Lizzie to sit behind him.

Who the hell was he to tell her how she should behave. She wanted to make a snarky retort but took a deep breath to calm herself. It didn't work. Lizzie angrily sat behind him offended by his comment but held him tightly for support and cursed the circumstances which made her depend on such an arrogant crazy man. As her hand touched his waist, she felt his body tense but he said nothing and jerked the horse forward without saying one word. He rode slowly and cautiously.

After few minutes, Lizzie got impatient and asked like an insolent child "How far is your house? When will we reach there?"

"Soon" the man replied.

After few minutes, Lizzie could see the back of a large mansion. It looked like a small castle, it had three storeys and she could see many large Victorian style windows and chimneys on the roof. She could not believe the man was taking her there or it was his home. He slowly took the horse to a large shed which looked like a stable and there were many horses there but no people. As soon as he stopped, Lizzie jumped down from the horse, the man stared down at her as if there was another insult on his tongue but he gracefully got out the horse and tied it to a pole.

"This way Madam" he directed her to the back entrance. Lizzie apprehensively followed him.

"Is this your house?" She asked.

"Yes, Madam. This is my house" the man replied with pride.

"Are you kidding me? Do you live in some freakin' museum?" Lizzie was in awe gazing at its vast size and architecture. The walls were covered with magnificent paintings and ceilings with beautiful murals. She could not believe he was telling the truth.

"There is rich history associated with this place but it is not a museum. One day it might turn into a museum but now it is my home", the man said with pride and admiration. They walked inside the mansion and Lizzie couldn't believe her eyes by seeing the sheer details in the decoration of the place. There were beautiful French paintings on the huge walls, flowers in the vases all around oak tables and furniture, long velvet curtains on the windows. As she walked into the huge hall, the only words that came to her mouth were 'oh my God'. There was a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. She thought it must be twenty feet wide.

The man guided her to a large sitting room with a giant piano near a fireplace at one side and sofa covered with exotic silk near large windows with layer of curtains on the other side. Lizzie was amazed with the luxurious and lavish surrounding. The only word which described the room was 'magnificent'.

She took her eyes away from the beautiful mural on the ceiling and asked with wonder "Who are you and what is this place?"

"My name is Fitzwilliam Darcy and this is my home, Pemberley", the man stated.

"That's a mouthful, you must have been teased a lot in school with a name like that", Lizzie was amused.

"It is a family name and people regard and honour my name. They do not make fun of it" Darcy didn't find any amusement in her comment. "And may I ask who are you, Madam?"

"I am Elizabeth Bennet, people call me Lizzie", she said looking curiously at the man. "Seriously, this is your home" she asked still not believing him.

"Yes, it is. I do not humour myself by deceiving others" Darcy was trying to hide anger from his voice but Lizzie uncomfortably shifted her weight by seeing his angry eyes and looked around the room again. "Kindly take a seat, while I summon a servant to assist you with your injuries", he said.

"That won't be necessary, I just need to use your phone to call a toll truck to get my car out of the ditch. Then I will be on my way." Lizzie said hurriedly because she wanted to get away from that man as soon as possible.

"I do not have a phone as you are calling it. Is it the same object that you have showed me earlier, is it called a phone" Darcy asked, looking at her pocket where she kept her cell phone, trying to get another glance at it.

"You don't have a phone? Didn't you say earlier that I could call for help at your home? Was that all a ruse to get me here? You live in a palace but cannot afford a phone?" Lizzie was getting tired of his antics.

"You must restrain yourself Madam. I do not take insults in my own house lightly", Darcy cautioned her "I have told you earlier I do not know what a phone is and when I implied earlier that you can get help at my home, I was telling the truth. You will be provided assistance here."

Lizzie said sarcastically, "Of course, you don't know what a phone is? You are the prince of this castle who has been living under a rock for past hundred years or so". Her temper was getting the better or her; she so desperately wanted to punch the man for wasting her time. She yelled at him "What the hell is wrong with you. Who in the twenty first century hasn't heard of a phone? Have you just come from Narnia or what?"

Darcy looked at her with puzzled expression "Did you say twenty first century?"

"What, now your ears are not working either?"

"Of course, I can hear you properly" Darcy was annoyed. He was feeling so frustrated with the woman, who not only talks improperly but takes delight in insulting him every instance. "I believe you are intoxicated or lost all your senses if you think you are in some fantasy world of twenty first century."

"You think I am in fantasy world. What's up with you 'Mr. I have never seen a phone'. What time do you live in?" Lizzie hissed with rage.

"I live in the contemporary time Madam, it is 1813." Darcy stated without hesitation.

"It is what? What did you just say", Lizzie couldn't believe her ears now.

"I said it is 1813, Madam. Now, are you having problem in hearing me", Darcy smirked.

"Oh, I heard you very well. What kind of shitty joke is it", Lizzie asked irritatingly.

"This is no joke, Madam. I am not amusing you."

"Believe me, I am not amused because it's 2013 Mister, not 1813"

Darcy took a deep breath trying to make her understand, clearly the woman was delusional "Today is Thursday 9th of March of the year 1813 Miss Bennet."

"What the hell? Is this some kind of stupid prank you play on people and get your kicks from?" Lizzie was losing her patience.

"Madam, I will not tolerate your insults" Darcy raised his voice.

"Ok, now I've got it. I am being punk'd, isn't it? Is it some kind of stupid reality show where you make fool of people on national television", Lizzie told him. This explained a lot of things, like why that man was acting so weirdly.

"What are you talking about" Darcy inquired.

"Where are the cameras? Where is it hidden? " She started looking around the corners of the ceiling and walls. "Is it hidden in the flower vase" she said while looking through the flowers.

"What are you doing Madam" Darcy tried to stop her from breaking a vase. He was now thinking the woman must have escaped from an asylum.

"Tell me where the damn cameras are?" Lizzie shouted losing her cool. "I want to talk to your producers now" she demanded.

"What producers?" Darcy asked looking around as if he was missing something.

"Ok, I had enough now. I want all of you people in the backroom to come out now" Lizzie started to wander and talk to walls and corners. "I promise you, I will sue your ass off. If you think you can make a fool out of me on national TV then I assure you, I will definitely be a pretty rich fool on national TV."

Darcy was now convinced that the woman was crazy "Calm down Madam. Please sit down. I'll call for some water." He tried to relax her.

"Stop that! Stop that now. If you don't stop this craziness now, you'll be sorry", Lizzie threatened Darcy.

"Madam, calm down. You need some help" Darcy tried to calm her but failed. He rang a bell and called for a servant.

Lizzie was now scared that she was not part of a prank show, but this crazy man had actually deluded himself into thinking that he was living in nineteenth century. The only thing that came to her mind was to run away from him and never look back. "Ok, I have to go now", Lizzie said and hurried towards the door, opened it and ran for the back door.

"Wait Madam, where are you going? You are not in the right frame of mind", Darcy followed her and tried to stop her.

Lizzie saw couple of woman in the hallway wearing old fashioned dress and looking at her in shock. She came into the backyard thinking in which direction she should run. She was not sure if she wanted to go back to the woods to her car or to anywhere else and find someone or call for police. She hurried towards the main gate, she needed to get away from that place. She saw couple of men working in the grounds and near the stable, she thought to go to them and tell them about the lunatic who tried to kidnap her (in some sense) but she saw Darcy following her and ran without thinking anything towards the man near the stable, he looked big and strong, who might knock Darcy out if required.

Darcy for one moment saw Lizzie talking to walls like a crazy person and the next moment he saw her running towards the back yard towards the stable. He was not sure what to do, so he followed her and ran after her asking her to stop. But she was not listening and continued running towards the stable. He was not sure why he was running after her, she was certainly not a woman who had a clear sense and she certainly spoke in a foul manner, insulting him, condemning him. She was dressed in strange attire which was not at all proper for a lady, he had doubts if she was a proper lady at all, but still he offered her help as a gentleman should do. But the woman behaved as she did not need any help and misjudged his every action. His mind was telling him to stop and let her go, it would be better for him, easier for him if she went away and he never had to see her again but Darcy was not listening to his mind for once. There was something strange about this woman, she had a fire and passion in her eyes which he had never seen before. She certainly possessed objects which he couldn't even imagine. The mere curiosity to know who she was, what she was and why she was behaving in such a manner made him run faster and catch up to her.

Darcy had never done this in his life and would never do to a woman but he grabbed Lizzie's arm and stopped her from running.

"Let me go", he heard her shout but as he started to speak and wanted to say "Please Madam, stop. It is not safe for you to run like that". The words never had the chance to get out of his lips, as a fist came towards him from nowhere and hit his nose really hard. He felt a pang, lost all sensation in his brain for a second and then he felt a tremendous pain and pressure in his head. His nose started to bleed and he just kept his hold on Lizzie's shoulder more tightly and didn't let her go even though she punched him so hard.